Monday, January 10, 2011

Finished!


I finished the sweater I was working on last week. I didn't post it right away, because I thought I'd take a good on-Lucy action shot of it first, but I forgot:
a) she's a toddler and doesn't slow down long enough to be photographed,
b) there's barely any decent sun these days, and
c) she has nothing that matches this sweater.

Oops.

So, here it is in the boring laid-on-the-table pose. (And yes, that is an end I forgot to weave in dangling out of the sleeve. Lucy has decided that's there so she has a built-in cat toy.)

The sweater ended up quite a bit different from the original. This is how I made my "design decisions":

I used the red yarn until it ran out. Then I used the blue yarn until it, too, nearly ran out.
Thinking I had just enough left for a bird, I started one (from this book). With just an inch or two of yarn left, I decided that bird would have to have a smaller head than planned. That made the bird look better in an upright pose.
I searched for buttons to match, and found one blue and two red. The neck placement on the original didn't work (because the sweater's a bit snug on Lucy; I should have added some stitches), so I moved them down. I took a three-year-old's advice when I was trying to choose blue or red buttons; she said "or, you could use all three."

I'm happy with all those aspects. Less happy with the single crochet stitch around the edging, which I used to try to stop the curling edges (suggested by this pattern). It didn't work, and I'm terrible at evenly spacing stitches along row ends. (Please, don't look too closely.)

Overall, I think it's pretty cute, and Lucy agrees. (Ravelry notes here.)

Now I just have to make her something to wear with it.

6 comments:

Luisa said...

A little skirt or pants. They would be cute. It came out nice I think sometimes we judge ourselves to harshly with the finished product. Love the bird.

Jules said...

It's so beautiful, Lise. I love the fact that there is a whole story behind it already. Fab.
Thank you for your kind comment the other day on my post about our wet nights. Believe me, nothing you say sounds trite. I am aware many people have difficult nights, diabetes in the mix or not. I hope your nights improve soon too.

Anonymous said...

I adore the little bird, that is the cutest thing. She is lucky to have such a clever mummy!

Anonymous said...

This is really sweet - the bird is so twee.

Sarah said...

I love that you combined the deep red with that pale blue--it's lovely. The bird is sweet, too!

Amy @ Lucky Number 13 said...

oh my goodness! this is absolutely beautiful. seeing things like this really makes me want to have another baby! you are very talented, great work.